


Brother

by smolalienbee



Series: Elijah Kamski's demons [13]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Anger, Angst, Arguing, Canon Related, Canon Universe, Drinking, Drinking & Talking, Drinking to Cope, Dysfunctional Family, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Siblings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Family Issues, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Light Angst, Loneliness, Mental Health Issues, Post-Canon, Self-Esteem Issues, Swearing, Trans Gavin Reed, basically Elijah and Gavin have a messed up family, functional family? never heard of her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 06:10:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16550423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smolalienbee/pseuds/smolalienbee
Summary: Christmas is a time to reunite with family and with the decorations shining brightly all around the city, Elijah decides to pay an unexpected visit to someone he hadn't seen in years.





	Brother

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise surprise, here I am with another chapter earlier than usual. I'm going abroad tomorrow and since I'll be gone for like the next two weekends, I figured I'll post next chapter early. Since the last chapter was pretty important to the plot, in this one we're going back in time a bit. This takes place after the revolution, sometimes around Christmas. Angsty as usual and uncovering some of the stuff from Elijah's past that hadn't been mentioned before.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

His arms crossed as he waited. He had knocked already, but there was no response.

Maybe he shouldn't have came all the way out there. Unannounced and unexpected.

Just when he considered giving up, the door swung open.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

Elijah wasn't surprised by the kind of greeting he got. After all, he and Gavin hadn't seen each other in literal years. So what was he even doing, standing at Reed's doorstep like that?

Christmas was coming up. It was supposed to be a time to reconnect with family, to forgive past mistakes.

What a cheesy reason. He didn't even celebrate it.

Yet there he was, face to face with his half brother.

“Visiting my dear little brother, obviously.”

Without even waiting for a response, he pushed past Gavin, inside the apartment. There was an annoyed huff behind him, but he paid it no mind.

“No, seriously, why are you here?”

Gavin closed the door loudly before following Elijah. The older man was looking around the apartment curiously.

“So you're a cat person now, huh?” He hummed, ignoring the question.

Two stray cats were running around his feet, fascinated, trying to get his attention. He crouched down next to them, reached out to pet them. They easily pushed into his touch, not at all bothered by the presence of a complete stranger in their house.

“Elijah, stop avoiding the damn question.”

Gavin was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. Elijah smiled sadly to himself. It wasn't like he expected any other reaction.

The two of them avoided each other like fire and ice. Or, more like, Elijah did his best to avoid society as a whole. And meanwhile, Gavin tried to hide their familial relation to the best of his abilities. Different surnames, different life paths certainly made it manageable. Even the public was not aware that the infamous Elijah Kamski had any siblings at all.

But then again, were they even siblings at all? They barely saw each other, even as kids. Elijah was few months older; it was not long after he was conceived that his father left for another woman. Gavin's mother.

They had different families, saw each other rarely.

Why did he think coming there was a good idea?

He rose up, the cats meowing needily when his touch was gone. He turned to meet his brother's gaze.

“I told you. Visiting my brother.”

“I don't want to see you here,” Gavin grumbled in response, stepping closer to Elijah, eyes narrowed.

“Okay, well,” Kamski wasn't phased as he pulled his backpack off his shoulder. He dug into it and pulled out a bottle of eggnog. “How about this?”

Gavin raised an eyebrow at the sight.

“So you're basically bribing me, what a great big brother you are.”

Even though he said that, as he moved past Elijah, he grabbed the bottle, pulled it out of his grip.

“I figured you'd kick me out immediately if I didn't come with an offering.”

“True,” Reed huffed, dropping onto the couch and twisting the cap. He took a large swig. “So what's the point in getting me on your side, huh?”

Elijah sighed heavily. He knew it wouldn't be easy. Why would Gavin trust him, open up to him, after years of ignoring each other, after everything that happened in their lives, with Cyberlife, with the revolution.

Hell, Elijah was convinced if he was in Gavin's shoes, he wouldn't have even let himself inside.

He still wasn't sure why did he come to see him.

He plopped down on the couch as well, but made sure to keep some distance between the two of them. He reached out towards his brother and Gavin understood without words, handing him the bottle. He gulped down the liquid as well.

They didn't care about glasses, about polite gestures, about appearances. They weren't close, but depite that, they went through enough shit together to understand there was no need to pretend.

It was ironic, really. They hardly saw each other. They didn't care, or love each other. They were like strangers. Didn't feel like a family, at all.

Yet it was Elijah, who first saw the fresh cuts on his brother's arms, all those years ago, before Gavin transitioned.

It was Gavin, who first found out about Elijah's suicide plan, long before he even put it into action.

Neither of them did anything to help the other.

They didn't stand up for each other. Didn't bring it up.

They knew about their demons, but remained silent.

Humans were truly complicated creatures.

“I'm not trying to get on your good side, Gav,” he said, earnestly.

They passed the bottle between each other.

“You could've at least given me a warning, dipshit.”

“If I informed you beforehand I was coming over, you'd have made sure to be out of here at the time.”

“...yeah, okay, point taken.”

Elijah huffed a small laugh.

“Apparently I know you pretty well after all.”

“Don't flatter yourself, Kamski.”

“I'm not trying to. Just saying.”

The entire time as they talked, the bottle moved back and forth. They didn't go slow on it, that much was obvious. Elijah felt like getting drunk was possibly the only way for them to feel a little closer to each other. Even if the drink he brought was a poor choice for quick intoxication.

“The hell did you make this world come to?” Gavin spoke up after a moment of just silently drinking.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

His brother rolled his eyes at the question, as if the answer was the most obvious one in the world. Elijah just watched him, waiting for an explanation. He had a feeling he knew what Gavin was getting at.

“Your fucked up plastic toys negotiating with the government. Like... like they're damn alive. That android shithead got a damn promotion, he and Anderson are leading a new task force.”

“I know they are. I discuss matters with Connor fairly regularly.”

The calmness of Elijah's voice caused Gavin to tighten his grip around the bottle. He looked at it for a moment before taking a large swig.

“How the fuck can you be so calm about this?” He said as soon as he pulled it away from his mouth, the words slurring a little. He could never handle his alcohol well and that speed of drinking didn't make it better. “Or was it your plan all along, humans not enough for your... fucked up brain?”

Elijah swallowed thickly. He didn't like the direction in which the conversation was going. A part of him, the naive part, hoped that once they started drinking, Gavin would take his presence better.

But that wasn't the case. Instead, his brother was even more prone to anger. As if his hot-headed character wasn't bad enough when sober.

Apparently, getting drunk just turned him harsher.

“Why do you have to make it seem like everything is about me?” Kamski kept his voice quiet, every word spoken carefully.

Subconciously, he tilted his chin up. Tried to keep a steady footing, even when the ground under his feet was shaking.

“Because it always /is/ about you!” Gavin raised his voice.

He waved the bottle all around, so vigorously that Elijah had to force it out of his hold. Gavin just huffed and puffed, but was too focused on talking to really fight over the alcohol.

“Ever since we were little, dad was just obsessed with you, goddammit! As soon as he realized you were a fucking genius, suddenly all he wanted to do was go back to you! And I was never good enough for him!”

Elijah didn't know how to respond.

What was he supposed to say?

Gavin was right about how their father treated them, there was no denying it. He left Elijah with his mother, but as soon as it became apparent the child was a prodigy, he wanted to come back. He called, far too often. It became an obsession, unhealthy, terrifying, to the point of driving Gavin's mother away from the two of them. A young child left with just a father who cared more about his eldest son's intelligence than the youngest's well-being.

Elijah flinched; Gavin continued to yell, louder and louder.

“And better yet, he actually gave a shit when you tried to off yourself! But he didn't do crap when I fucking cut myself!”

Why did he have to bring that up?

Why that, out of all the things he could scream at him about?

“Shut up, Gavin!”

He was sitting on the edge of the couch. They both were. Gavin's eyes narrowed, dark, angry, while Elijah's were open wide, nearly fearful. Equally pained expressions painted their features.

They both went silent.

Elijah took that as a good cue to take a swig. Sweet liquid burned down his throat.

He should've brought whiskey. Anything stronger.

Looking over at his brother, he could see he was just a ticking bomb, waiting to blow up again. Elijah wasn't sure how much more of it he could take. He already felt more guilt than he could handle.

He swallowed around the lump in his throat, tried to find some words that would hopefully placate Gavin.

“...you know I never meant for him to become like that. He never truly cared about either of us, just because he- it didn't mean he cared.”

He showed up at the hospital, and what? It didn't mean anything. It made things far worse. Elijah clearly remembered how he was the last person he wanted to see when he woke up in that bed. Didn't want to listen to him, going on and on about how it'd be such a shame if someone like him was gone.

But Gavin clearly saw it in a different light.

“Oh shut the fuck up. You were always- always the better one. Smarter, passionate, more- you were an actual son and not a fuck up, like me.”

“That's not-”

“Not what? Not true?” Gavin let out a laugh, but it was a sad, broken sound. He ran a hand down his face and shook his head. “It's always been true, Elijah.” His voice trembled at his brother's name.

Kamski stared at him, at a loss for what to do. What was worse, Gavin's anger or his quiet suffering?

No wonder he hated androids so much. Elijah had figured it out a while ago, how he was the reason behind it all. How Gavin didn't really hate androids – he hated his older brother, who gained the attention and praise of everyone.

Or at least that was how Gavin saw it.

Meanwhile, Elijah found himself feeling envious of his younger brother. Of how he was the one considered normal, out of the two of them. He didn't have those eyes on him. Wasn't analyzed and spoken about, all of the time. How freeing that must be, the lack of social surveillance.

Gavin had his face in his hands. Elijah couldn't tell if he was crying, but he certainly looked miserable. Upset.

How often did he feel that way? Did he even have anyone to share those feelings with?

Elijah wasn't good at comforting others, but he could try. He slowly reached out to place a hand on his brother's back. Rub small circles into it. To his surprise, Gavin didn't attempt to push it off.

He had never thought much about it before, but maybe his brother was even more alone than he was. He, at least, had the Chloes. Even if they didn't come naturally, even if they were built, they still were just as human as anyone else and, most importanly, they supported Elijah.

And Gavin?

Gavin had no one.

It was about time to fix it.

“ _...I'm sorry I was never there when you needed me.”_

 


End file.
